Chevy Volt Vs. Nissan Leaf: Compare Cars
They both deliver smooth, all-electric power. They both plug into the wall to recharge their... Read More
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The Roadster is a rolling proclamation that defines you as a futurist. It's not a toy, but it's a geek's plaything.
Green cars are not supposed to be like this.
Because of the Roadster's highly efficient nature, Tesla claims the associated carbon dioxide emissions would only be about a third of those for a popular hybrid car.
Tesla is the first maker to crack the EV legitimacy barrier in a century.
This car has the most technically advanced power train in a production car today, with greater range and speed than any other electric car on the market.
GREEN | 10 out of 10
Expert Quotes:
The Roadster is a rolling proclamation that defines you as a futurist. It's not a toy, but it's a geek's plaything.
Autoblog
Green cars are not supposed to be like this.
Autoguide
Because of the Roadster's highly efficient nature, Tesla claims the associated carbon dioxide emissions would only be about a third of those for a popular hybrid car.
Edmunds
Tesla is the first maker to crack the EV legitimacy barrier in a century.
Motor Trend
This car has the most technically advanced power train in a production car today, with greater range and speed than any other electric car on the market.
C/Net
It doesn’t burn any gasoline, and a full battery recharge—for up to 250 miles, Tesla says—will cost you less than $10 on your electricity bill. Compare that to the $60 it would cost to run a 12.5-mpg supercar of similar performance on $3-a-gallon gasoline.
Now, no one buys a $109,000 two-seat sportscar to save money. But the Tesla’s green credentials are unimpeachable: Even if it is recharged by plugging into the dirtiest electric grid in the nation, it emits less carbon per mile (on a “wells-to-wheels” basis) than any 25-mile-per-gallon car out there.
In California, which has a fairly low-carbon grid, the Tesla is notably better than a 50-mpg Toyota Prius. And for that reason—its lowest-in-class wells-to-wheels carbon output per mile, including the emissions of the power plants used to recharge it—the 2011 Tesla Roadster 2.5 gets the highest score we can give on our Green Rating scale.
Because it uses no fuel, its fuel economy is not rated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Nor is the Roadster offered with any alternative powertrains, such as a hybrid or a diesel. It wouldn’t be a Tesla Roadster if it were.
Conclusion
As a battery electric vehicle, the 2011 Tesla Roadster couldn’t be any greener—though its performance almost guarantees that drivers will use those electrons in a profligate fashion.
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